Feeling on Edge?

Anxiety is a feeling we're all very familiar with, having endured two years of a pandemic with more uncertainty no doubt to come.  It is also one of the more troubling symptoms of menopause, reported by nearly a quarter of women as being a frequent problem, while over half of women studied reported feeling anxious and irritable in the two weeks preceding the survey. 

The study, conducted by Dr Joyce Bromberger in 2014, focused on anxiety levels attributable to perimenopause and menopause and found that women without a history of chronic anxiety were more likely to report increased anxiety levels during this transitional phase, compared to women who had already experienced high levels of anxiety.  This shows us that menopause can be a significant contributor to anxiety and irritability.

There are many reasons why menopause can cause high anxiety levels in some women.  As progesterone levels fall, those in perimenopause can find themselves suffering the effects of oestrogen dominance, which can add to the challenge of controlling emotions. It is worth considering HRT to help to stabilise hormone levels and lessen the impact of fluctuations on your mental health if you feel this describes you.  The emotional impact of other symptoms, such as poor sleep, fatigue and brain fog can also contribute to increased anxiety, so it's no wonder that all of these changes can cause anxiety as well as mood swings and irritability.

The impact on our wider families can also play a role here, as a lack of support and understanding during “the change” can make us feel alone, and even guilty if we occasionally lash out and raise our voices.  This, in turn, can create more anxiety and even lead to depression.  Many women are unaware of anxiety as a symptom of menopause, or of perimenopause and often end up being treated for depression and anxiety without realising the underlying cause.

While there are certainly good things to be said for antidepressants and talking therapies in combatting these symptoms, if we understand the root cause of these mood changes, we can treat them much more effectively.  In fact, just knowing what's really going on can lift the mental burden and reassure us that we're not losing our minds, we're just experiencing a lot of changes in hormone levels and challenging symptoms.  If we're not sleeping properly, struggling with hot flushes, dealing with brain fog and memory problems on top of daily life, it's no wonder that this impacts on our mental health.

Many of the ingredients in our MenoShake™ can help to deal with some of these symptoms, but the best way to use our shake to help combat anxiety is to make it part of a daily stress break.  When you mix up the MenoShake™, spend that time doing some deep breathing.  Yogic breathing techniques can be incredibly efficient at creating instant calm, which puts you in a great mindset for some “me time”.  Take 15 minutes out of your day to look at the good things in your life or the good things that happened today.  Do some gentle stretches, or a short guided meditation and really enjoy drinking our tasty chocolate flavoured booster.

Some of us struggle with the idea of taking time for ourselves, but a phrase that we like to use is “you can't pour from an empty cup”; by taking time for yourself to have a shake break you're refilling your internal cup and topping up your emotional reserves to face whatever life throws at you next.